‘Hannibal’ season 3, episode 8 ratings: ‘The Great Red Dragon’ drops

We all had our hopes that maybe “Hannibal” would find a way to stay steady in the ratings given the beginning of the Red Dragon storyline. It is perhaps the most famous Thomas Harris story that the show has adapted to date, but what it has working against it is merely the fact that the show is airing on a Saturday night. It’s difficult to actually expect anyone to be at home watching the show live, and that was unfortunately reflected in the ratings for this weekend.

“The Great Red Dragon” posted as a whole a 0.3 in the 18-49 demographic, and to go along with that barely made it around the 1 million viewer mark. These are not the sort of live numbers that a show looking for a new home needs, but to be fair here this is also a case where it is hard to expect much given the night and time. It did at least continue to beat “Aquarius” for the second straight week, as that series drew only a 0.2 rating.

Yes, the question that we have more than anything else right now is what NBC plans on doing with a second season of “Aquarius,” given that they have already renewed it, yet are putting it now in a position where it cannot really succeed very well at all. Maybe it is making enough money online to justify some of the money that they are putting into it. Really, that is the only way it stays.

At this point, all we are hoping for from “Hannibal” is that the final five episodes of the season all have a chance to actually air, and the show’s just not getting shoved off to the internet.

We reviewed “The Great Red Dragon” recently at the link here, so be sure to go over and check that out. Meanwhile, sign up here if you are interested in getting some further TV news on all we cover, sent right to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)